Friday, September 21, 2018

A Final Goodbye

One last emotional sendoff!


The last piece from my past life of exploring film photography as a young man. A Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5. Such a wonderful piece of photo gear. A fully manual, extremely slow, but a very creative tool.  A few rough spots, yet able to create very impressive negatives, that are so full of detail, it can amaze even the experienced photographer. Scan these negs at 1200 dpi and you have the equivalent of a 30MP digital file. Scan higher if you dare!

What did this camera teach me?

How to slow down and see the image before you raise the camera to your eye.
How to stop and enjoy the scenery, removed from the photography process.
How dedicated the photographers were 30-50 years ago (hauling these rigs around)
How to look in the corners of your frame.
What is the best aperture and shutter speed for each image.
Which film stock represents the desired goal of the image or place and time.
The hard work and inherent value of each image.
How many steps it takes to actually create art.

But, the future is bright! The new path forward includes a 6x7 negative with plenty of detail. Enough camera weight to feel like I have earned the image. And a slow process, much like the 4x5 sheet film experience. See below.


So off we go... To play, and explore!


Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Cleaning House

While I have been having fun testing the new RB67, I have also been quietly cleaning and selling off old gear to pay of the cost of the new RB outfit.  And I have to say, it is a bit painful, or even nostalgic to say the least.

Today I sold my Canon A1, a camera I purchased in college after my AE1 got stolen. It served me well for over 30 years, and can I admit to feeling sad to let it go?  This certainly was a joy to use.  And it made it to some beautiful remote places, including the top of Half Dome in Yosemite NP.


The bottom line is I simply don't use it enough these days.  Once you experience medium format it is very hard to go back to using such a tiny negative!

So tonight I'll pack it up, and send it off to another youthful photographer, ready to explore the joys of analog photography.

Next up... the Crown Graphic 4x5.
(Oh, the pain and agony...)